Lace Collection

In 1907 Mrs. James W. Pinchot proposed to assemble a collection of arts and crafts for the Smithsonian Institution. To start this endeavor, Mrs. Pinchot and her collector friends loaned or donated over 500 pieces to the National Museum, “many of them old, rare and costly, and covered a very-diversified field of European art craft.”  The primary goal of the first textile exhibit in the newly built Arts and Industry Building was to enable collectors to identify their heirlooms and to create greater interest in the textile arts, by displaying a variety of lace and art textiles—both widely collected at the turn of the twentieth century. The textile exhibition also aimed to highlight women’s contributions in the arts. The original donations of a great variety of fine old European laces form the nucleus of the lace collection at the National Museum of American History. It has grown mostly by generous donations since 1908, and now includes specimens from many parts of the world, numbering approximately 6,000 pieces.

One very special group within the lace collection was made by Belgian lacemakers during World War One, and bought by American collectors to help support the Belgian people through the hardships of the war, while thecountry was occupied by German forces. These fascinating laces and the history behind them can be viewed in the World War One Laces Object Group.

Lace is an ornamental openwork fabric created by looping, twisting, braiding or knotting threads either by hand or by machine. The main categories of handmade lace are needle lace, bobbin lace and decorated nets. Needle lace is created by making looped or knotted variations on the buttonhole stitch with a threaded needle on top of a pattern. Bobbin lace is created by twisting, crossing or plaiting multiple threads wound on bobbins. It is also made on a pattern, called a pricking. Bobbin and needle laces can be combined in the same piece of lace, and handmade or machine made nets can be decorated with various forms of embellishment, including darning or embroidery, or the application of motifs made by needle or bobbins. Among the many other lace-making techniques are tatting, netting, crocheting, knitting, macramé, and sprang.

Decorated nets have existed for thousands of years, but the rapid development of needle and bobbin lace started in earnest in the early 16th century in the Venice and Milan areas of current Italy and in the Flanders area in northern Europe. The very fine linen threads from Flanders, imported silk threads from China as well as gold and silver threads were used to make the fine laces. Cotton was not used for making lace until approximately 1830.

Handmade lace was expensive and highly sought after; the trade in lace always had an aura of mystique and intrigue. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the handmade lace industry played an important part in the economies of many European countries. Members of royalty, the aristocracy, and the Catholic Church were the main consumers for fine laces. Men and women competed to display the most exquisite lace on their fashionable clothes—King Charles I of Great Britain, for example, bought 1600 yards of lace to ornament his shirts.

wedding veil  designed and made for Princess Stéphanie of Belgium for her wedding to Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria in 1881

This veil was worn by Princess Stéphanie of Belgium in her wedding to Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria in 1881

Sumptuary rules restricting extravagance in consumer goods were in effect very early. Queen Elizabeth I of England passed a law dictating the maximum width of the fashionable ruffs in 1580 and a 1634 law in the Massachusetts Bay Colony prohibited settlers from wearing gold, silver, or thread laces.  These laws were mostly ignored, as the ones in power were the ones demanding lace. However, the sumptuary laws and other bans made smuggling very lucrative. Stories are told about bodies being replaced by lace in coffins before being shipped across borders, dogs being wrapped in lace and covered with a larger hide; hollowed out loaves of bread filled with lace, and many other ingenious ways of getting laces to the rich and powerful.

By the 1660’s the French Treasury was losing huge amounts of money going to Venice for lace. When it became obvious that the numerous embargos and bans levied on lace imports only led to more smuggling instead of stopping the imports, King Louis XIV’s Secretary of the Treasury, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, clandestinely invited around 200 Flemish and some 30 Italian lace workers to upgrade the skills of the lace makers in the French workshops.  The result was an elegant needle lace called Point de France.

Lace merchants grew very wealthy from the upper classes spending enormous sums on lace. Lacemaking was mostly a cottage industry with individual lacemakers working in their homes for a lace dealer, who would supply the threads and patterns and collect the finished lace from the maker. The lacemakers were mostly women and therefore not allowed to form guilds that would protect their livelihood. Children were taught to make lace in orphanages and convents to help them earn a living, and workhouses for the poor and prisons benefitted from incarcerating lacemakers, enabling the prison to sell their lace. A painting by Dirck Santvoort from 1638 shows lace made by prison inmates being evaluated and sold by the Regentesses and Matrons of the prison.  

Producing a piece of lace by hand is very time consuming, making the delicate fabric a very expensive and desirable fashion accessory. In 1685 a cravat (collar) would cost four and a half times the annual salary of a servant8.  The extremely fine linen thread used for Valenciennes bobbin lace in the early eighteenth century made it a very expensive lace. In 1765 a lace worker would have worked 15-hour days for a full year to make one meter (a little over one yard) of a Valenciennes sleeve ruffle or engageante.  A pair of sleeve ruffles would require at least 4 meters, and more for women of higher social standing. At that time the annual wage of the lace maker was less than the customer would pay for one of those meters, or less than a quarter of the cost of a single pair of sleeve ruffles . Even though the lacemakers were very poorly paid, lacemaking still helped thousands of peasant lacemakers support their families in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

By the end of the eighteenth century men had stopped wearing lace, and fashion also changed to a much simpler, unadorned styles for women. The demand for most handmade laces declined, and although nineteenth century women’s fashions did periodically revive the market for lace, handmade lace had to compete with lace fabrics made by machines—some of the earliest automated textile-making machinery developed in the nineteenth century was for manufacturing lace. This effectively spelled the end to much of the handmade lace industry.

Lacemaking in America came mostly with European immigrants, who practiced their craft in communities all over the country. The only well documented large scale handmade lacemaking industry in the US was in Ipswich, Massachusetts in the late 18th century. Ipswich might already have had lacemakers by 1639 as a law from that year decreed “that henceforward no person whatsoever shall presume to buy or sell, within this jurisdiction, any manner of lace, to be worn or used within our limits.”  The Ipswich lace industry is best documented by the white linen and black silk bobbin lace samples made in Ipswich between 1789 and 1790 and sent to Alexander Hamilton as samples of an important industry in the newly established country. However, that also came to an end with the change in fashion and development of the lace machines in the early nineteenth century. Currently lacemaking traditions are being kept alive by modern lace makers who research and create lace as a hobby.

This large triangular lace shawl was made in Brussels point de gaze needle lace. The overall design has fine naturalistic floral motifs with a few sections of the common bold, tightly buttonholed wheels. It shows a very fine overall pattern and execution.
Description
This large triangular lace shawl was made in Brussels point de gaze needle lace. The overall design has fine naturalistic floral motifs with a few sections of the common bold, tightly buttonholed wheels. It shows a very fine overall pattern and execution. It was made in Belgium of fine cotton thread in about the 1850's
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
1984.0111.018
accession number
1984.0111
catalog number
1984.0111.018
This flounce of stylized floral motifs is executed in Blonde bobbin lace. The flounce is made of cream colored silk thread in three sizes. The ground is point ground, with the motifs made in dense linen stitches and lighter half stitches outlined with a heavy gimp thread.
Description
This flounce of stylized floral motifs is executed in Blonde bobbin lace. The flounce is made of cream colored silk thread in three sizes. The ground is point ground, with the motifs made in dense linen stitches and lighter half stitches outlined with a heavy gimp thread. Honeycomb ground is used as decorative fillings. The flounce is edged with a narrow machine made picot edge on both sides.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1830-1845
maker
unknown
ID Number
1984.0111.243
accession number
1984.0111
catalog number
1984.0111.243
This needle lace table runner illustrates scenes from the Bayeux Tapestry. Scenes before, during and after the Battle of Hastings, England, in 1066 between Harold and William the Conqueror are depicted along the sides and ends of this nine meter long cloth.
Description
This needle lace table runner illustrates scenes from the Bayeux Tapestry. Scenes before, during and after the Battle of Hastings, England, in 1066 between Harold and William the Conqueror are depicted along the sides and ends of this nine meter long cloth. It might have been commissioned for the banquet table in one of the numerous grand mansions built in the USA early in the 1900’s. The Melville and Ziffer lace workshop in Le Puy, France, exhibited an almost identical table runner at the 1906 Paris World Exhibition.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900-1910
designer
Melville & Ziffer
maker
Melville & Ziffer
ID Number
1985.0162.01
accession number
1985.0162
catalog number
1985.0162.01
This cotton, point de gaze style, needle lace medallion was made to commemorate the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909 held in Seattle, Washington. The lace was designed and made by Eduord Marie Verpoorten (Edy Verporte) a native of Belgium, living in Spokane.
Description
This cotton, point de gaze style, needle lace medallion was made to commemorate the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909 held in Seattle, Washington. The lace was designed and made by Eduord Marie Verpoorten (Edy Verporte) a native of Belgium, living in Spokane. The medallion depicts the official seal of the exposition. One of the three women is holding a steamship carrying goods from the Orient, another is holding gold from Alaska and the third holds a locomotive bringing wealth to the American Continent. Mrs. Verpoorten was awarded the Grand Prize for her lace.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1909
maker
Verporte, Edy
ID Number
2003.0186.1
accession number
2003.0186
catalog number
2003.0186.1
This fragment of a very fine linen bobbin lace flounce includes figures of humans, angels and vases. From the early 18th century, it is grounded with bobbin lace braids with picots that are carried across the back of motifs, indicating a Brussels origin.
Description
This fragment of a very fine linen bobbin lace flounce includes figures of humans, angels and vases. From the early 18th century, it is grounded with bobbin lace braids with picots that are carried across the back of motifs, indicating a Brussels origin. It has been pieced together at a later date.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 18th century
maker
unknown
ID Number
2013.0121.24
accession number
2013.0121
catalog number
2013.0121.24
This set is a pattern of Valenciennes square mesh bobbin lace and a sample made from it. The pattern is drawn with ink (?) on parchment and appears to have been used as the pricking. Suggestions for working the pattern are written in French: "Laisser le bas.
Description
This set is a pattern of Valenciennes square mesh bobbin lace and a sample made from it. The pattern is drawn with ink (?) on parchment and appears to have been used as the pricking. Suggestions for working the pattern are written in French: "Laisser le bas. Claircir (?) les deux cercles. Laisser plus de jeu aux boules. Former le petit medaillon, le haut moins regulier". Extra threads are added to motifs and cut off. The design (no. 554) and sample for this 19th Century Brussels lace were purchased from G. Moens, Brussels, in 1921.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
maker
unknown
ID Number
2013.0121.29
accession number
2013.0121
catalog number
2013.0121.29
This panel is embellished with bobbin lace and silk embroidery. The woven center is decorated with embroidery, drawn thread work and needle weaving. It is bordered with gold and silver (?) bobbin lace insertions and edging.
Description
This panel is embellished with bobbin lace and silk embroidery. The woven center is decorated with embroidery, drawn thread work and needle weaving. It is bordered with gold and silver (?) bobbin lace insertions and edging. The lace is worked with threads made of strips of metal foil wrapped around an un-spun silk core in an S-twist, indicating 17th century. The salmon colored satin stitch silk embroidery alternates with the same geometric motif in gold foil wrapped silk thread. There is a tassel in one corner and the remnant of a tassel in the opposite corner.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 17th century
maker
unknown
ID Number
2013.0121.43
accession number
2013.0121
catalog number
2013.0121.43
This Milanese style bobbin lace border depicts Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, with her dog. It was probably made in Flanders early in the 18th century. The delicate motifs are executed with bobbin made decorated tapes in fine linen thread.
Description
This Milanese style bobbin lace border depicts Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, with her dog. It was probably made in Flanders early in the 18th century. The delicate motifs are executed with bobbin made decorated tapes in fine linen thread. The connecting mesh is decorated with regularly spaced square tallies.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1650-1700
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.E252705
accession number
49730
catalog number
E252705
This object is one of a pair of fine Honiton bobbin lace designs made in Japan between 1880 and 1910. The bird and floral motifs are connected with braids with picots. Exceptional workmanship is displayed.
Description
This object is one of a pair of fine Honiton bobbin lace designs made in Japan between 1880 and 1910. The bird and floral motifs are connected with braids with picots. Exceptional workmanship is displayed. The engrelure or footing at the top is of machine made tape.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890-1910
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.E260960D
catalog number
E260960D
accession number
51116
This triangular shawl is of Brussels bobbin lace appliqué over machine made net and is of very good quality. Small embellishment of needle lace enhances the mostly bobbin made floral and ribbon motifs. It was made in the 19th Century of cotton.Currently not on view
Description
This triangular shawl is of Brussels bobbin lace appliqué over machine made net and is of very good quality. Small embellishment of needle lace enhances the mostly bobbin made floral and ribbon motifs. It was made in the 19th Century of cotton.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865-1870
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.E345008
accession number
107000
catalog number
E345008
This is a very good quality flounce of Point de France [d’Argentan] needlepoint lace. It probably dates originally from the late 17th century, but was pieced and mended in the 19th century when some cordonnet was added.
Description
This is a very good quality flounce of Point de France [d’Argentan] needlepoint lace. It probably dates originally from the late 17th century, but was pieced and mended in the 19th century when some cordonnet was added. There is a great deal of raised work, with picots both on the edging and the interior raised work. The entire piece is 134 inches long and 13.5 inches wide and worked in fine linen thread.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1665-1680
date remodeled
19th century
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.E363083
accession number
118473
catalog number
E363083
This black silk bobbin lace was made in Ipswich, Massachusetts, around 1790. The thread is 2-ply, S-twist black silk. The ground is kat stitch, which is also known as Paris ground. Point ground, Cross, twist, twist, twist, is used only as a filling.Currently not on view
Description
This black silk bobbin lace was made in Ipswich, Massachusetts, around 1790. The thread is 2-ply, S-twist black silk. The ground is kat stitch, which is also known as Paris ground. Point ground, Cross, twist, twist, twist, is used only as a filling.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1770-1810
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.H39069
catalog number
H39069
accession number
113420
This sample of Binche bobbin lace from about 1725-1735 is of fine quality. The style is sometimes called Fausse Valenciennes. The collar was fashioned from eight fragments of similar, but not identical lace in the 20th century.
Description
This sample of Binche bobbin lace from about 1725-1735 is of fine quality. The style is sometimes called Fausse Valenciennes. The collar was fashioned from eight fragments of similar, but not identical lace in the 20th century. A newer edging has been whip stitched on.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1725-1735
remodeled
late 19th century
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.L7382
catalog number
L7382
accession number
83674
This Black Chantilly lace lappet or scarf is a sample of early Victorian bobbin lace from about 1870. It is of good quality, but fragile. The fine black silk threads are disintegrating. The ends are of higher quality than the center section.Currently not on view
Description
This Black Chantilly lace lappet or scarf is a sample of early Victorian bobbin lace from about 1870. It is of good quality, but fragile. The fine black silk threads are disintegrating. The ends are of higher quality than the center section.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860-1870
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.L7621
catalog number
L7621
accession number
70138
This panel consists of 42 alternate squares of cutwork and lacis, edged with a border of needlepoint lace. The knotted filet net is embroidered with motifs like an elephant, a goddess, a horse, a hunter, and a dragon, among others.
Description
This panel consists of 42 alternate squares of cutwork and lacis, edged with a border of needlepoint lace. The knotted filet net is embroidered with motifs like an elephant, a goddess, a horse, a hunter, and a dragon, among others. The woven cutwork squares are embellished with geometric needlepoint insertions and surface embroidery. It was probably made in Spain or Italy in the early 17th Century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1580-1620
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.L7652
catalog number
L7652
accession number
58000
Napoleonic bees decorate this Alençon needlelace collar. The bee motifs are applied to the background net, motifs of laurel wreaths adorn the outside edge. It was pieced together to make collar, probably during the third quarter of the 19th century.
Description
Napoleonic bees decorate this Alençon needlelace collar. The bee motifs are applied to the background net, motifs of laurel wreaths adorn the outside edge. It was pieced together to make collar, probably during the third quarter of the 19th century. The collar matches the pattern on the bed set Napoleon ordered for his firstborn. The background mesh is mostly wrapped Argentan brides tortillées.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1805-1810
commissioner
Napoleon I Emperor of France
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.L7689
catalog number
L7689
accession number
58000
This cap lappet is part of a set of Point de Venise de Reseau needle lace. The ground has been restored and the fine quality needlepoint motifs are now applied on machine made net.
Description
This cap lappet is part of a set of Point de Venise de Reseau needle lace. The ground has been restored and the fine quality needlepoint motifs are now applied on machine made net. The lace dates originally from the early 18th century, and was remodelled in the late 19th to early 20th century. It matches the border TE.L7694 and cap back TE.L7695.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1700-1710
date repaired
1875-1925
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.L7693
catalog number
L7693
accession number
58000
This cap border is part of a set of Point de Venise de Reseau needle lace. The ground has been restored and the fine quality needlepoint motifs are now applied on cotton machine made net.
Description
This cap border is part of a set of Point de Venise de Reseau needle lace. The ground has been restored and the fine quality needlepoint motifs are now applied on cotton machine made net. It likely dates originally from the early 18th century and was remodelled in the late 19th to early 20th century. It matches lappet TE.L7693 and cap back TE.L7695.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1700-1710
date repaired
1875-1925
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.L7694
catalog number
L7694
accession number
58000
This cap crown is of Point de Venise de Reseau needle lace. The ground has been restored and the fine quality needlepoint motifs are now applied on machine made net. The lace dates originally from the early 18th century, and was remodelled in the late 19th to early 20th century.
Description
This cap crown is of Point de Venise de Reseau needle lace. The ground has been restored and the fine quality needlepoint motifs are now applied on machine made net. The lace dates originally from the early 18th century, and was remodelled in the late 19th to early 20th century. It compliments a matching lappet TE.L7693 and and border TE.L7694.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1700-1710
date repaired
1875-1925
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.L7695
catalog number
L7695
accession number
58000
This sample of Chinese made torchon bobbin lace edging is labeled as costing “$.60 per yard in US gold” and is made of linen. It was acquired from the Amoy Lace Guild, Amoy (Xiamen), China, through Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce in 1913.
Description
This sample of Chinese made torchon bobbin lace edging is labeled as costing “$.60 per yard in US gold” and is made of linen. It was acquired from the Amoy Lace Guild, Amoy (Xiamen), China, through Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce in 1913. The Amoy Lace Guild was established by missionaries in 1885 as a charitable organization to provide a source of income to indigent Chinese women and children. Patterns and linen thread was imported from England and Ireland. Lace from the Amoy Lace Guild won a silver medal at the St. Louis exposition in 1904.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900-1912
1904-1912
maker
Amoy Lace Guild
ID Number
TE.T00942
catalog number
T00942
accession number
55643
This tatted lace collar is formed of 76 joined tatted medallions, each one inch in diameter, and is executed with two-ply cotton. Tatting is a knotting technique using one or two tatting shuttles to form rings and chains. The motifs are joined at the small loops called picots.
Description
This tatted lace collar is formed of 76 joined tatted medallions, each one inch in diameter, and is executed with two-ply cotton. Tatting is a knotting technique using one or two tatting shuttles to form rings and chains. The motifs are joined at the small loops called picots. According to the donor this was tatted before the Civil War.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1861
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T08132A
catalog number
T08132A
accession number
145752
This is classical Italian Cantù bobbin lace from about 1900. It is of fine quality made particularly to sell abroad. Originally apparently four placemats and two long runners, it does not have a sewing edge where the pieces are attached.
Description
This is classical Italian Cantù bobbin lace from about 1900. It is of fine quality made particularly to sell abroad. Originally apparently four placemats and two long runners, it does not have a sewing edge where the pieces are attached. It has two-dimensional animal and flower motifs made in finer thread than the rest of the lace. Animal figures are made first, starting at the outer points and working to the center. This provides neater points as well as the additional threads needed for the larger areas. It also aids in more appropriately and neatly attaching the trails.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T12044
catalog number
T12044
accession number
202257
This token valued at a half penny was issued by a merchant to pay his workers in 1794. The inscription reads "Pay at Leighton Berkhamsted or London - 1794" with a sheep on one side, "Lace Manufactory" and a woman making lace on a pillow under a tree on the other.
Description
This token valued at a half penny was issued by a merchant to pay his workers in 1794. The inscription reads "Pay at Leighton Berkhamsted or London - 1794" with a sheep on one side, "Lace Manufactory" and a woman making lace on a pillow under a tree on the other. "Chambers, Langston, Hall & Co” is stamped around the rim. The token could only be used at one of the merchant's stores. Chambers, Langston, Hall & Co were haberdashers at 46 Gutter Lane, Cheapside, London. This type of tokens was possibly issued due to a shortage of official small change coins in the late 18th century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1794
ID Number
TE.T12692
catalog number
T12692
accession number
238479
This handmade black silk Chantilly bobbin lace shawl is from the third quarter of the 19th century and is in excellent condition. The large scale design with swags and great bouquets of flowers is typical of mid 19th century exuberance.Currently not on view
Description
This handmade black silk Chantilly bobbin lace shawl is from the third quarter of the 19th century and is in excellent condition. The large scale design with swags and great bouquets of flowers is typical of mid 19th century exuberance.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1875
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T13164
catalog number
T13164
accession number
250794

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